


A Pineapple-Free Christmas

by StarbucksSue



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-08
Updated: 2013-12-08
Packaged: 2018-01-04 01:03:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1075219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarbucksSue/pseuds/StarbucksSue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas, McGarrett-style.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Pineapple-Free Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tkeylasunset](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=tkeylasunset).



“Wake up, Danno, it’s Christmas!” The world shook as Grace launched herself on the bed and proceeded to smother him as she hugged him tightly.

“Happy Christmas, Monkey. What time is it?” He could see it was already daylight outside and was surprised, the last time Danny had spent Christmas with Grace, before the divorce, she’d had them out of bed at the crack of dawn and had opened her presents in her pajamas while he and Rachel had sat there half asleep, sipping coffee and watching her.

“It’s 08:00 Danno, Steve’s been up for ages.” Grace replied, which meant that Steve had probably been up for at least a couple of hours entertaining his daughter.

“So has Santa brought lots of presents?” He asked grabbing Grace around the waist and pulling her to sit on top of him.

“Don’t be silly, Danno.” Grace replied with a laugh. “I’m old enough to know that Santa isn’t real, it’s you and Uncle Steve and Mommy who buy the presents and Uncle Steve had them all shipped here last week so you wouldn’t get suspicious.” She grabbed his hands and got to her feet on the bed, trying to pull him up. “Come on, we’re having pancakes for breakfast and the batter’s ready to cook. Go and have your shower and I’ll put fresh coffee on. Steve brought the Kona with us.” She jumped off the bed and, in a flash, was out the door.

Danny groaned and stretched, getting out of bed somewhat reluctantly. The cabin was warm and cozy, despite the heavy snow outside, but although Danny didn’t really want to get out of bed he also didn’t want to miss a precious moment of the four days with his daughter.

The whole trip had been a complete surprise and Danny was pretty sure that only Steven ninja McGarrett would have been able to pull it off. Despite all the planning which had obviously gone into the trip Danny hadn’t seen the slightest hint that Steve had anything up his sleeve. It wasn’t until they actually got to the point of boarding the Air Canada flight from Honolulu to Vancouver that Danny had realized they were actually going away for the holiday.

So here they were, in a remote, cozy, cabin in the Canadian wilderness. Well, maybe the Brandywine Falls National Park wasn’t exactly the middle of the Canadian wilderness, but it certainly looked like it as they were surrounded by trees without any other dwellings in sight. Although he knew that they weren’t that far from Whistler, he’d seen the signs as they’d driven in the night before.

Danny knew that the holiday had been arranged especially for him. In the time he’d been in Hawaii he’d been very vocal about the unseasonable Christmas weather and had told numerous tales of childhood Christmases in New Jersey, with thick snow, snowmen, ice skating, snowball fights and sledging. Trust Steve to pick up on it all so that he could give Danny and Grace the kind of holiday he knew Danny would love, especially sharing it with his daughter. 

Of course, Steve needed the break as much as Danny did. The past few years had been really hard on Steve. From his father’s murder, the various issues with his sister, the lies and betrayal Steve felt over his former mentor and father-figure Joe and the ultimate betrayal by his mother. Steve had put on a brave face over it all but even his stoicism had finally faltered under the emotions brought on by Doris’ appearance and subsequent disappearance from his life and Danny knew he was taking it harder than he let on. Steve was pretty much the poster child for abandonment issues and the latest saga really hadn’t helped.

Danny showered and dressed quickly, making his way out into the living area less than ten minutes later. With the exception of the main bedroom and bathroom, the ground floor of the cabin was open plan, with the living room running the full width of the cabin and the kitchen/dining area forming an ‘L’ shape. A short passageway ran next to the kitchen to a back door, with the main bedroom and bathroom off the passageway. There was a narrow winding stairway which led up to two small bedrooms which had been built into the sloping eves of the cabin which was where Grace was sleeping. Out on the back deck was a hot tub which Steve and Danny had already made use of the night before, relaxing and having slow, passionate sex long into the night.

As he entered the kitchen he could see that Grace and Steve were already cooking the pancakes and before long, they were all sitting down to pancakes and coffee, with juice for Grace, and Danny marveled at her restraint. Times had changed though and, despite mourning the loss of the little girl she once was, Danny had to admit how much he appreciated the gentle, generous young lady she was becoming.

“Come on, it’s present time.” Grace exclaimed once they’d all finished eating. She quickly gathered the plates and stacked them in the sink before heading for the tree and the pile of presents underneath. 

“See, all our presents are here, Danno. Steve got them shipped last week so we didn’t have to carry them here. I guess we’re going to have to carry them home again though but it should be easier without all the wrapping.” She set to work sorting the parcels into three piles, with her own being noticeably the largest.

Danny made his way over to the couch and sat down, relaxing in the warmth from the log fire. Steve soon joined him with two mugs of fresh coffee.

“Can we do this Grandma’s way and each take a turn opening a present?” Grace asked finally as she placed the final gift on Steve’s pile.

“I think you’d better have two goes to every one of ours, otherwise we’re going to run out long before you’re finished.” Steve replied seriously, grabbing the camera and taking a photo of Grace sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by gaily wrapped parcels. Danny thought she looked adorable in her Santa hat and red sweater with a cheerful Santa face on the front.

After the presents were opened they wrapped up warmly and went out into the snow. Danny took a deep breath. The fresh, crisp air and thick snow brought back so many memories of his own childhood and he realized that Steve had listened to all his mock grumbling about Hawaii and its weather. He was pulled back from his memories abruptly when a snowball hit his arm and within a few minutes the air was full of flying snow, shouting and giggling.

Several hours later three very wet and soggy people made their way back into the cabin, hurriedly stripping out of their wet coats and jeans. They changed quickly and while Danny and Grace flopped onto the couch Steve made his way to the kitchen to put the oven on for dinner. While he was waiting for the oven to get to temperature he made hot chocolate, grinning as he found the cupboards included the packs of tiny marshmallows to float on top of the drinks.

To Danny’s astonishment and Grace’s delight, not only had Steve cooked up a fairly decent representation of Christmas dinner, but he’d found a red tablecloth, cheery Santa-face placemats and coasters with matching paper napkins, crackers and a large red candle wreath centerpiece. Small white snowflake confetti had been sprinkled over the cloth and Danny had to admit, his no-nonsense and utterly practical partner did have some romance in him, it was just buried very deeply.

Dinner was followed by a deeply indulgent chocolate cheesecake and, stuffed to overflowing; they ended up on the living room floor playing a variety of the old board games kept at the cabin. To Danny’s delight, Grace enjoyed playing Monopoly, Clue, Parcheesi and Battleship just as much as he had as a kid. 

After they finally tucked an exhausted but happy Grace into bed, Steve disappeared into the kitchen for the bottle of bubbly they’d been saving while Danny took the candles and sat them on the deck surrounding the sunken hot tub, lighting them quickly. The deck was covered and sheltered from the wind, with outdoor heaters on two sides, but it was still freezing outside so he stripped and sunk quickly into the hot, foaming, water. Steve soon slipped in beside him, passing him a glass and sitting the bottle on the side ready to refill their glasses.

“Mele Kalikimaka, Danny.” Steve toasted him softly.

“Merry Christmas, Steve.” Danny replied clinking his glass against Steve’s before taking a drink and then placing his glass on the side. “Now this, Steven, this is how Christmas should be spent. No sunshine, sunburn, barbecues or pineapples just snow, family and fun.”

“Yeah, I know Danny.” Steve sighed as put his own glass down. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a family Christmas and we always had Christmas in Honolulu, never one like this.” He looked sad and distant for a minute so Danny pulled him quickly into his arms.

“Well, this is a perfect Christmas. Thank you Steve, I don’t know how you managed it but it’s perfect and Grace has had wonderful day too.”

“It wasn’t difficult to arrange. The cabin belongs to the family of one of my Navy buddies. They never use it at Christmas as it’s not big enough for their family get together. I’ve been here before, when I’ve wanted to get away for a while. They don’t rent it out or anything so they keep all their personal stuff here which is why it’s like someone’s home, but they trust a few select friends to use it. They have a local couple who look after the place and they’re always willing to shop for what’s needed so I didn’t have to worry about that, I just told them roughly what I wanted and sent them the check.”

“Thank you.” Danny pulled him in closer for a kiss. “You’ve done so much for me and Grace, not just this year but ever since we came to Hawaii, I’d never have survived the first couple of years if it wasn’t for you.” He confessed honestly.

“It’s all for you Danno, it’s always been all for you. I couldn’t have done any of it without you.” Steve murmured into Danny’s neck. “I wanted to make our first Christmas together special, one that we’ll always remember.”

Danny looked out over the wintry landscape. The isolation of the cabin meant that the darkness of the night was unrelieved except for the large moon high in the sky. The gentle glow of the outside light above the hot tub reflected off the snow and made it sparkle and highighted the snowflakes drifting lazily down from the sky. The snowman they had built earlier in the day stood sentry in the yard, a layer of snow already coating his hat and scarf. It really was perfect.

“Steven, this is the best Christmas ever. I have just spent Christmas day with the two people I love most in the world.” Danny stroked his hand over the dark head currently buried in his shoulder. “And I want you to be here with me and Grace for many more Christmases to come because after this, my friend, it would never be the same without you.”

He pulled Steve gently off the ledge into the deeper water in the centre of the tub. It didn’t take long for the gentle kisses to turn hungry as Danny devoured Steve’s mouth. To his surprise, Steve didn’t fight for control as he often did but willingly submitted to everything Danny did. Danny gentled the kisses, taking his time in mapping every inch of his partner’s body, slowly and patiently taking Steve apart until he was completely undone and begging for release, before slowly making love to him, reassuring Steve and confirming his love in actions rather than words.


End file.
